1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a silver halide color light-sensitive material containing a novel acylacetamide-based yellow dye forming coupler and, more particularly, to a silver halide color light-sensitive material in which color turbidity in a yellow color formed region is reduced.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material, the oxidized form of an aromatic primary amine developing agent and dye forming couplers (to be referred to as couplers hereinafter) react with each other to form a color image when the material is subjected to exposure and color development.
Generally, a color reproduction technique according to subtractive color processes is used in this case. That is, in order to reproduce blue, green, and red, color images of their complementary colors, i.e., yellow, magenta, and cyan are formed. In the formation of a yellow image, an acylacetamide coupler and a malondianilide coupler are used as yellow dye forming couplers (to be referred to as yellow couplers hereinafter). In the formation of a magenta image, a 5-pyrazolone coupler and a pyrazolotriazole coupler are used as magenta couplers. In the formation of a cyan image, a phenol coupler and a naphthol coupler are used as cyan couplers.
Each of yellow, magenta, and cyan dyes obtained from these couplers is generally formed in a silver halide emulsion layer having a color sensitivity to radiant rays absorbed by that dye, or in a layer adjacent to the emulsion layer.
As the yellow coupler, particularly as a yellow coupler for image formation, acylacetamide couplers represented by a benzoylacetanilide coupler and a pivaloylacetanilide coupler are generally used. The former coupler has a high coupling activity with the oxidized form of an aromatic primary amine developing agent during development and can produce a yellow dye having a large molecular absorptivity coefficient. Therefore, this coupler is mainly used in a photographic color light-sensitive material required to have a high sensitivity, particularly in a color negative film. The latter coupler is excellent in spectral absorption characteristics and stability of a yellow dye and is therefore mainly used in color paper or a color reversal film.
The benzoylacetanilide type coupler has a high coupling activity with the oxidized form of an aromatic primary amine developing agent during color development and can produce a yellow azomethine dye having a large molecular absorptivity coefficient. However, this coupler has a problem of poor spectral absorption characteristics of a yellow image. The pivaloylacetanilide type coupler is excellent in spectral absorption characteristics of a yellow image but has a low coupling reactivity with the oxidized form of an aromatic primary amine developing agent during color development and a small molecular absorptivity coefficient of a produced yellow azomethine dye.
A high coupling reactivity of a coupler and a large molecular absorptivity coefficient of a produced dye enable a high sensitivity, a high gamma value, and a high color forming density, thereby yielding so-called high dye forming properties. Good spectral absorption characteristics of a yellow image means absorption characteristics in which the sharpness on the long-wavelength side of spectral absorption is good and an amount of unnecessary absorption in a green region is small.
A demand, therefore, has arisen for development of a yellow coupler having both the advantages of the two types of couplers, i.e., high dye forming properties (a high coupling reactivity of a coupler and a large molecular absorptivity coefficient of a dye) and good spectral absorption characteristics of a color image.
As examples of an acyl group of the acylacetanilide type coupler, U.S. Pat. No. 3,265,506 discloses a pivaloyl group, a 7,7-dimethylnorbornane-1-carbonyl group, and a 1-methylcyclohexane-1-carbonyl group, and JP-A-47-26133 ("JP-A" means Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application) discloses a cyclopropane-1-carbonyl group and a cyclohexane-1-carbonyl group. However, each of these couplers is poor in any of the characteristics described above, i.e., low in a coupling reactivity, small in a molecular absorptivity coefficient of a dye, or poor in spectral absorption characteristics of a color image.
On the other hand, a method of using a water-insoluble polymer together with a coupler in a high boiling point organic solvent is disclosed in, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,619,195, 4,201,589, or 4,120,725. WO/00723 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,006,453 describe an example in which a cyan coupler or a magenta coupler is codispersed with a water-insoluble polymer in order to improve the dye stability of that coupler. In addition to the above U.S. Patents, JP-A-64-50049 describes that the dye stability of a yellow coupler is improved by the use of a combination of a water-insoluble polymer and an epoxy compound.
In a silver halide color light-sensitive material, not only the spectral absorption characteristics of a yellow dye have an effect on yellow color reproduction. Generally, regardless of the structure of a dye to be produced, some formed dye images more or less have undesired absorption in a red light region or a green light region in yellow dye formed region and give turbid color image (hereinafter, referred "color tribidity") depending on the structure of a split-off group of the coupler or a combination of the arrangement of a light-sensitive material and the compositions of the development processing solutions.
Although the absorption of the color dye itself is excellent, grayish dark yellow is reproduced due to this color turbidity when the dye is used in a light-sensitive material.
Possible causes are, for example, a residual silver image caused by poor desilvering in a desilvering step, color mixing derived from interlayer movement of the oxidized form of a developing agent during development, and a coloring component produced by a side reaction of the oxidized form of a developing agent. However, the details or the extent of contribution of these causes are not well known. In addition, a dye image produced by an acylacetamide-based yellow coupler represented by formula (I) of the present invention is unsatisfactory in stability against light or heat and therefore must be improved.